It’s hard to get a job at Deloitte. The Big Four professional services firm gets more than 500,0000 applications every year for experienced hires, and it only takes on 4% of those.

This is obviously a huge number of applicants to get through, and close to the acceptance rate at Goldman Sachs, and there are various methods the firm uses to whittle down to shortlist, according to Patty Pogemiller, the national director of talent acquisition and mobility at Deloitte in the U.S.

However, one of the key ways Deloitte takes on experienced hires is through recommendations from its current of employees. 40% of new hires come from referrals from Deloitte’s own employees, who know what it takes to fit in and succeed at the company.

Even at the graduate level Deloitte tends to take on people who’ve had exposure to the business. Around half of campus hires come through Deloitte’s relationship-building approach with students.

“As early as high school we’re building relationships, and during college we invite students to come to events and interact with recruiters,” Pogemiller says. “We introduce them to our mentorship and internship programs. They have the opportunity to meet the people and determine whether this is where they can be their best selves.”

Deloitte’s topped the U.S. rankings of the eFinancialCareers’ 2016 Ideal Employer rankings among professional services firms and finished third – behind McKinsey & Co. and PwC – globally. On the professional services ranking based on the perceptions of U.S. financial services professionals, McKinsey finished second, followed by Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group and then PwC.

Ideal Employer – Professional Services US Top 3

The application process at Deloitte

With such a huge volume of applications, the first line of defence at Deloitte is the robots. Everyone has to make it past the Application Tracking System and, once you do, recruiters do initial interviews with candidates and screen them further to see if their skills and experience are a good fit.

Deloitte has implemented video technology to enable some candidates to conduct interviews with hiring managers remotely.

Once candidates have made it through the initial recruiter screen, they pass through to business recruiters, then a technical screen looking at the depth of their experience and knowledge, followed by a behavioral interview.

Finally, there is typically a business case study, where Deloitte personnel present the candidates who are still standing with a series of problems and they have to come up with a solution. The best of the best who make it that far are then offered a position at the firm.

Calculating compensation

When offering a compensation package, Deloitte says that it aims to be competitive with other large accounting and consulting firms and supplement that base salary with a comprehensive benefits approach.

“The total package that we offer that allow us to attract the best people and retain them,” says Pogemiller. “Compensation is an important component of that, and we are competitive in that area.”

Looking at Deloitte’s salaries, on average a senior consultant earns $113k, a specialist senior gets $115k and a manager pulls in $135k, according to Glassdoor. An “associate 6” averages $100k.

Promotion process

Deloitte has shaken up the process it uses to promote its employees away from a traditional performance management approach and to one that is “geared towards each individual’s strength”, according to Pogemiller.

Managers provide employees with regular feedback via a check-in process. Team leaders provide performance snapshots on a real-time basis and focus on coaching and career development.

“On an annual basis, we decide who is ready to be promoted, who is ready to be successful at the next level,” Pogemiller said. “We focus on strengths, which is very motivating to people. There may be things they do well. We focus on what strengthens them, and we try to recognize what they’re passionate about and help them figure out how to develop their career based on what they most want to focus on.”

Comments (5)

How saddening to read that Deloitte is essentially relying on the “buddy system” to vet and hire new candidates regardless of their qualifications. Clearly the firm has abandoned the traditional and diverse method of recruitment and hiring where only the most qualified people were interviewed. Under the system described above, only candidates who are in the Millennial and MBA “inner” crony circle (clique) are deemed “Best of the best”. I would like to see Deloitte’s diversity numbers published, which would clearly illustrate this biased “referral” system and who is truly being hired rather than what the firm purports.

Having worked at deloitte I can assure you the average person at Deloitte is far from the “best of the best.” I refer to the big 4 as the mediocre 4, since their “talent” typically comes from non-competitive colleges, and people who have held low level positions at 2nd tier companies.

The whole in and out process is quite simple. You get in, you please the clients with work and you collect fees, or you are out. There is not much room for anything else….as far as technical depth it comes with each employee and their background. My experience with Deloitte was quite good, except for the local country exec that apply a lower level intelligence quota and that makes for gaps in consistant delivery. All in all i would work for them again they honored my contract as written and agreed, with the exceptions coming from local rules and cultural isses that created abnomalies.